Richard Cordray

Yesterday, the Senate voted to proceed with the nomination of Richard Cordray to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), then approved him later in the day on a 66-34 vote. The move has the potential to benefit everybody with a mortgage, credit card or private student loan. In other words: you.

When an appeals court ruled that President Obama’s recess appointments of members of the National Labor Relations Board was unconstitutional, it also threw into doubt the validity of the recess appointment last January of Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There was already a clash shaping up over …

This week’s election was a cliffhanger for many people, but the stakes were higher than most for the director and staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency, which opened its doors in July 2011, was a …

With so much concern over privacy in the digital world, it’s worth noting how the careful disclosure of consumer data might actually help. This is especially true in the area of personal finance, where the newly minted federal …

It’s hard to overstate how much bank customers hate overdraft fees, but we still shelled out nearly $30 billion on them last year. The Federal Reserve attempted to rein in the “gotcha” factor with new rules in 2010, but banks have exploited loopholes in them and increased the fees. Now, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is trying …

President Obama is reportedly planning to name Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a recess appointment today, which means the drawn-out Congressional standoff over Cordray’s nomination to head the watchdog agency may be drawing to a close.

As expected, the Senate Banking Committee approved Richard Cordray on a party line vote today to direct the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It’s a largely symbolic vote because the next step would be a vote by the entire Senate, and 44 Republican senators have said they’ll block the approval of anyone nominated to the …

Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general picked by President Obama to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, had a hearing with the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday. The elephant in the room — no pun intended …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officially opens its doors today. Conceived in the wake of the subprime meltdown and the subsequent financial market crash, the CFPB was envisioned as a financial services version of something like the Consumer Product Safety Commission, except that instead of pulling lead-tainted toys or …